Though supporters of at-large D.C. Council candidate Phyllis Outlaw playfully implore District voters to “Put an Outlaw on the Council,” the catchy slogan may carry more truth than they think. According to the D.C. Board of Elections, Outlaw lists her legal residence as 1350 Sheridan St. NW, a home owned by her mother. But Outlaw also owns a Silver Spring house on which she receives a 10 percent homestead exemption on her Maryland property taxes. Maryland tax laws require homeowners to
live in their residences for one year before applying for the exemption; residents must then certify annually that they are living at
the property in order to continue receiving
the tax break. Outlaw insists that the Silver Spring outpost is not her home, but the
Maryland base for her law practice, even though the property is classified by Montgomery County as residential. Outlaw also has a downtown D.C. law office. When asked why she received the homestead exemption on her office, Outlaw responded: “I don’t even know what that is. I’m not sure Maryland has a homestead exemption.” The D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics is now looking into the discrepancy.
Fare Game “Their argument is, I haven’t lived in the city as long as they have. I say, I’m not running for cab driver. It’s not how many streets you know…” Anthony Williams, speaking to a companion as he traveled in an elevator up to a mayoral candidates debate at WPFW-FM
Deja Vu All Over Again A few angst-ridden District residents may have the funny feeling they’ve heard Jack Evans’
campaign slogan, “Solutions. Not Excuses” somewhere else. Maryland psychotherapist Michael J. Hurd has used the dynamic slogan in his ads in the Washington Blade for at least three years, according to Blade advertising manager Jim Deely. “I just noticed it about
a week ago….I’m not angry or upset about it,” says Hurd. “I think it’s a great slogan
on a political or a personal level. I emphasize the personal.” John Ralls, a spokesperson for Evans, insists the candidate has never seen Hurd’s advertisements. Yet he has a hard
time explaining the origin of the slogan. “We’ve tried to figure out exactly who came up with it,” Ralls notes. “But nobody remembers.”
Motor Mouths While the wake of a smoke-spewing Metrobus may ultimately prove more deadly, getting
trapped behind D.C. mayoral candidate Kevin Chavous’ flatbed campaign-on-
wheels is spreading the city’s road rage
epidemic. The bandwagon’s amplified rhymes and Chavous jingles feature some of the most hambone political rapping since Warren Beatty picked up a mike in Bulworth. When asked about the truck’s Maryland license plate and mud flaps emblazoned with the logo for Rentals Unlimited, a Maryland-based company, Chavous press secretary
Jim Allen responds, “It’s a five-ton, five-speed flatbed. Maybe we had to go to
Maryland, OK?”
ER Meets Law & Order Patients waiting outside the emergency room at D.C. General are commonly strapped in makeshift splints and wheelchairs. These days, though, ranks of the banged-up are sporting new instruments of confinement: shackles and handcuffs. According to security officers at the hospital, arrestees and inmates from D.C. correctional facilities in need of medical attention were formerly taken through the back entrance, where they would wait for treatment away from other patients. As of last week, however, they wait in triage alongside the law-abiding. Security officers at the facility argue that this policy is risky and note that monitors in the ER have been broken for years. Donna Lewis-Johnson, a spokesperson for D.C. General, says the security monitors will be fixed soon and insists that the mingling shouldn’t faze customers. “We would in no way compromise the security of our general patient population,” she says.
Reporting by Ken Cummins, Eddie Dean, Caroline Schweiter, Frappa Stout, and Jake Tapper.